Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin said Aldean shouldn't be censored
The "View" hosts criticized country singer Jason Aldean's song "Try That in a Small Town" on Thursday and described it as "deplorable" before defending Aldean against any censorship of the song.
"There's no reason to separate big city people from small city people," co-host Joy Behar said. "That to me is the divisive part of this song. I mean, it’s a deplorable song and it's annoying. ‘Got a gun that my granddad gave me. They say one day they’re going to round up. Well, that s--- might fly in the city, good luck.' It’s very divisive and provocative. But I defend his right to do this video."
Behar said they can't censor her, so they can't censor him.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg agreed with Behar and said, "Absolutely."
"The View" co-host Joy Behar discussed Jason Aldean's new song "Try That in a Small Town." (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
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"But he has to understand that the big cities are supporting the small towns, 70 blue counties are responsible for 70% of America’s economy. The big cities are really providing the things that you have in these small towns. You should not be against big cities," Behar continued.
Behar asked co-host Sunny Hostin if she believed his music shouldn't be censored.
"As a lawyer, when I put my legal hat on, I don't believe in censorship. However, this man is from Macon, Georgia, my father's from Augusta, Georgia, and Macon, Georgia. I spent many summers there. It is one of the most racist places in this country. So don't tell me that he knew nothing about what that imagery meant, so I don't give him the benefit of the doubt," she said.
"And my mother and father, because they were an interracial couple, were run out of South Carolina by the KKK. And my father is still scarred from that experience and you are still scarred from that experience. So don't tell me, not only was he aware of what he was doing by using that imagery, he embraces that imagery, and unfortunately this became the number one song on U.S. iTunes. We have a problem in this country about race and the biggest problem is, we refuse to admit that it exists," Hostin continued.
Jason Aldean and Brittany Aldean attend the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on May 11, 2023. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
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CMT cut Aldean's video from the network on Wednesday after it was accused of being a "pro-lynching song" by critics on social media.
Goldberg and Hostin argued that the song went too far.
"Just like you talk about people taking care of each other in small towns, we do the same thing in big towns. You just have to realize that when you make it about Black Lives Matter, people kind of say, well, are you talking about Black people? What are you talking about here? If we’re talking about Americans taking care of each other, then it shouldn’t be about Black Lives Matter. You should be able to show all the different things that have gone on in our country where people stood up and said, ‘No more.’ We do the same thing that small towns do. That’s my two cents to that," Goldberg said earlier in the segment.
Jason Aldean was ridiculed online for his song "Try That in a Small Town," prompting the country star to speak out and defend himself. (Rich Polk/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)
Aldean addressed the criticism of the song on Wednesday.
"In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests," Aldean said.
"There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far," he wrote in posts shared on Instagram and Twitter.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
